


Touch

by Bulletproof_love



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Affection, Bucky Barnes Has PTSD, F/M, Fluff, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Healing, Light Angst, Male-Female Friendship, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Smile, Touch-Starved, Touching
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-08
Updated: 2018-09-08
Packaged: 2019-07-08 12:11:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 818
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15930176
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bulletproof_love/pseuds/Bulletproof_love
Summary: After returning home from war Sergeant James ‘Bucky’ Barnes struggles to acclimate.





	Touch

\- The two of you had met at the local farmers market around the corner from your apartment. You had both been reaching for the same apple. As soon has your hand had come into contact with his, he had tore away as if something had bitten him. He jerked back violently, knocking the contents of a nearby box of peaches onto the concrete, causing them to roll out across the ground. You watched the scene in a state of shock, focusing on the peaches that were careening in different directions. By the time you turned your attention back to him he was gone.

\- He was there again the next day. This time as you stood alongside him you were more aware of his presence than ever. You were careful as you selected your fruit, you didn’t want a repeat of yesterday. The silence between you was companionable, before he broke it with the words “the plums are good.” You found yourself tilting your head towards him in surprise, your gaze capturing his for the briefest of moments before he tore his steely eyes away from you and focused on the task of handling the fruit.

\- It went on like this for months. Your conversations gradually becoming longer, the topics broadening and changing as the two of you picked out your fruit. You discovered that his name was Bucky, that loved plums and hated pears, that he liked to cook but loathed the clean up that came afterwards. Soon the two were walking the square, meandered slowly as you stopped at stalls to peruse the goods.

\- Over the months, walking around the square turned into sharing a cup of aromatic coffee at the cafe on the corner. He seemed more relaxed these days, his fingers smoothing his dark hair back behind his ear as he talked with controlled gestures. He didn’t flinch away from you as much as he used to, instead he leaned in with rapt attention when you talked.

\- It’s when you reach over to pay the bill that it happens. Your fingers grasp for the paper receipt just a millisecond before Bucky’s hand shoots out. His large hand comes to rest on yours and in that moment the two of you stare at your covered hand in surprise. You expect him to pull away, the same way he has any other time the two of you have made physical contact but this time he doesn’t. Instead his eyes close briefly as he inhales deeply, seemingly savoring the skin on skin contact. His fingers gently curling around your hand and squeezing it warmly for the briefest of moments before he withdraws it.

\- It’s that night when you’re lying in bed that you consider what that touch actually means. Since meeting Bucky you had always thought that he was touch adverse. You had seen that often in your line of work. You had always assumed he was a soldier from the way he carried himself, he was always guarded, hyper alert, symptoms you associated with PTSD. You realised now that Bucky was struggling to reconnect with the world, that he wasn’t adverse to touch, in fact you thought he craved it.

\- You don’t mention any of this to Bucky the next time you saw him. You viewed it as cruel to force him to confront his demons before he was ready to. Your interactions were the same as they had always been the next day. You selected fruit together, discussing the new meat vendor at the other end of the market and whether you should consider buying from him. The conversation was mundane, easy and Bucky seemed to relax into it as he walked alongside you. The first time his knuckles brush lightly against yours, you think it’s an accident.

\- By the third time you realise it’s not. His brief touches are more lingering, the gap between the two of you closing as he loiters within your proximity. You don’t mind, in fact you find yourself enjoying it. You couldn’t deny that you were attracted to Bucky, he was a handsome man but it was more than that. Over the past few months you had come to care for him, his health and well being were important to you.

\- You are surprised when he takes your hand, his palm sliding easily into your own as his long fingers curl around your hand. Oddly it feels as natural to you as the sun setting, like it was always meant to be. Tentatively you allow your thumb to ghost up the inside of his wrist, caressing the flesh there lightly. His grip on your hand tightens just a little and although Bucky can’t say it out loud you can see from the expression on his gruff features that this gesture means the entire world to him.

\- For the first time since the two of you met, you see him smile.


End file.
